Peek a boo!

Here is my peek. I formed an idea and actually followed it through to completion.

Tomorrow is the day......and the background for my next piece is already on the sewing table.

Icon Peek

I just finished! Yeah! A quick peek for you all!

Lisa Kay

Ebullient

When we were given the word, I thought...what the heck? That is one word I never hear...or use... but amazingly I have heard people use it at least 4 different times in conversation since I read the definition. Synchronicity??? I pondered for a long time and the idea of water squirting from a fountain kept going through my mind. I used fabric paper again because I loved the deep colors and I wanted a cheery background hence the bright yellow dyed fabric. After a crazy summer I just needed to keep it simple.

And the word is...ICON

Icon , noun

1: a usually pictorial representation : image

2: [Late Greek eikōn, from Greek] : a conventional religious image typically painted on a small wooden panel and used in the devotions of Eastern Christians

3: an object of uncritical devotion : idol

4: emblem, symbol icon of 1960's residential architecture — Paul Goldberger>

5 a : a sign (as a word or graphic symbol) whose form suggests its meaning b : a graphic symbol on a computer display screen that usually suggests the type of object represented or the purpose of an available function

Have fun and I will see you all back here December 1st - enjoy!

An Experiment

I thought long and hard about the Ebullient challenge. A few ideas started to form, but nothing really gelled. And then I received the November issue of Threads magazine with an article about smocking. The effect was wonderful - it looked like woven fabric tubes. I had some sequined
organza and set about smocking it. That particular fabric was something of a nightmare to use, but I pushed on. The design complete, I finished the smocking and promptly changed my mind about the border fabric, opting instead to use a shiny, navy vinyl with a peek-a-boo opening framed with beads. Working with the vinyl made the organza seem easy in comparison. And a word of advice here...shiny vinyl is hard to photograph.

You know how it feels to pass the point of no return with a project? When you have used up your little bag of tricks and hear Tim Gunn's voice in your ear "make it work!" But the more I worked the more I heard Heidi Klum say "it looks home sewn'" and then "I'm sorry, Susan, You're out."



And so, what I have is a door. A Star's Dressing Room Door. The lesson here? It's all well and good to try new materials in a challenge - that is the point! To try new things, stretch, grow as an artist. Some experiments work out well. Some not so much. Hence the title. An Experiment. And it was. And the best part was the smocking. I will use that again, but with a lovely light-weight wool or silk. Maybe this weekend...


Susan H. in summer-what-summer-I-don't-remember-summer San Francisco

Dancin'

In earlier decades of my life, some of my most ebullient memories were made in DANCING. I lo-o-o-oved to dance. I did American country dancing, English country dancing, international folk dancing, ballroom dancing, clogging, and swing....anything with a partner. I'd get so "high" on ebullience, that I'd never know my feet hurt, my stockings were torn, even that there was blood in my shoe! I'd be swept away on the music and would go till the musicians pooped out! So dancing was the inspiration for this little quilt. As luck would have it, I came upon an old photo of a couple of swing-dancers, which helped me figure out where to put the arms and legs.




I made each of the dancers as a separate "doll" and had such fun dressing them as urban swingers of my generation. Of course they had to have mismatched patterns, cool sox, and leather-soled black dancing shoes. I had just a small piece of white music fabric for their background, and then found some black "music" fabric for a border.

The biggest problem I've been having in these challenges is staying within the 11 x 17 dimensions. My ebullient dancers were really struggling to burst out!

I've had such fun with this challenge, remembering the JOY that came with DANCIN'.

Sunset

Ebulient was not a word easy to understand for me in English. I would have prefered to hear examples in German.

We life now more then 7 years in our flat, but we still enjoy the sunsets anew.

So, suddenly during these beautiful September evenings, my mind and eyes were opened and I knew what I had to do!


In September 2008, I was lucky to attend a class with Dijanne Cevaal where we did transfer printing on Lutradur. Back home, I worked with one piece and put it on a handdyed yellow background. Then I highlighted some areas with blue and red wool and did machine quilt it.










This piece was hanging in my studio and waited and waited ...
I now know, why it had to wait so long!

It was perfect for this challenge theme, because it shows the feeling, I have, when I watch the sun becoming red and the sky turning from blue to dark.
To finish my quilt, I found a perfect background in my stash, which adds dramatic to the picture and I did more machine quilting.



If I see the picture on the screen, I think that I might add some beading to show the glittering light of the sun, shining in our rooms.

Heidi